May 9, 2008 5:42 pm US/Central
Local Burmese Monk Hopes To Raise Aid Money
ELMHURST, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Buddhist monk Ashin Ukkamsa moved to the Chicago area from Myanmar (Burma).
CBS
Relief workers in Myanmar say they are having a tough time reaching most of the people devastated by the deadly cyclone.
The International Red Cross says almost 2 million people need food and drinking water, but so far only 220,000 have received aid.
CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports a monk from Myanmar, who is now living in the Chicago area, is praying for his family and hoping to raise money to send to his disaster-ravaged homeland.
Ashin Ukkamsa prepared to pray Friday at the Burmese Buddhist Association temple on Forest Lane in Elmhurst.
The 1,000-year-old prayers took on new urgency for the 35-year-old monk, who is now praying that his family in Myanmar is still alive.
"My mind goes to my family," Ukkamsa said. "I was thinking, I am thinking about my family, they are safe or not."
Ukkamsa's family lives in the area around Burma's cyclone-ravaged capital city. He's been desperately trying to reach his parents, brother and sisters since shortly after the storm hit.
"I've been trying to call my family since Sunday," he said.
There are so far been no answer, and all the while the death toll rises. United Nations aid workers now estimate that more than 100,000 people were killed by the storm which experts say is the worst disaster in Burmese history.
It's an anxious time for Ukkamsa.
"My family and my relatives and my friends live in dangerous area," he said.
And as a man of prayer, Ukkamsa also is meditating on behalf of his beleaguered country where more than 2 million people are now believed to be homeless.
"My country is very poor. Now they have no food… water… electricity," Ukkamsa said.
He is inviting the public to a prayer service in his monastery in Elmhurst Sunday afternoon at one o'clock.
All money raised will go to the Burmese people to help them recover in the wake of one of the worst cyclones of all time.
You can also send donations to the
Burmese Buddhism Association in Elmhurst.
(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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